Galway‘s ambitions are limited

The first half of this encounter at a windy Pearse Stadium provided a perfect example of how Gaelic football can be a pig ugly field game when it is played in a certain way, by limited teams.

Tipperary’s instructions from Peter Creedon were to flood their defence when Galway had possession and one of their better forwards, Peter Acheson, took up permanent position as a sweeper in front of his full-back line.

We know the template all too well at this stage of the evolution of our game. Galway, not for the first time, found the massed defence practically impossible to figure out. Their confidence is still extremely fragile after the hammering by Mayo and they were reduced to passing the ball laterally for long periods, before the seemingly obligatory turnover.